A distillery is offering people a chance to invest in whisky - though the $200,000 bottle of John Walker & Sons Diamond Jubilee Scotch whisky (above) for sale at Dan Murphys might be out of some people's price range. Source: Supplied

FORGET the bank vault, Australians are putting their money into whisky barrels and reaping higher returns.

But would you put your hard-earned cash into a liquid asset such as whisky?

Some distilleries are offering "term deposit"-style deals to connoisseurs.

Tasmania's Nant Distillery, which has two bars in Brisbane, offers a 9.55 per cent return compounded for a minimum of four years.

The pitch is - put in $30,000 and pick up a guaranteed buyback of $43,208.66 when the whisky and your investment matures.

"We have hundreds of investors on board and the concept is appealing to the younger set," a Nant spokeswoman said.

Today's whisky drinkers are aged between about 28 and 40, and 30 per cent of those are women.

"We currently have a double cask offer where you can buy two 225-litre barrels of single malt matured in port wood and bourbon wood barrels,'' she said.

The pair of barrels costs $27,272.73 plus GST.

Peter Johnston, Queensland state manager of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Australia, is a sceptic.

"I personally would not invest as you never know what the future brings. What if a company changes hands?" he said.

Due to low interest rates, financial adviser Noel Whittaker said the barrels may be a reasonable investment providing certain questions were answered.

"Intending investors should find out what would happen if an emergency arose and they needed to redeem their investment," he said.

"Also, any investment that carries a capital guarantee is only as sound as the company that is giving a guarantee.

"Given those caveats and bearing in mind that interest rates are probably going to stay down in the foreseeable future it may be a reasonable investment for people with cash to spare.''

But for anyone who has an extra $200,000 Dan Murphy's has a special sale on their Christmas website - a limited edition John Walker & Sons Diamond Jubilee Scotch whisky. It is the only one in Australia.

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